Praise for Japan-Partner

[dah_hunter]

US and JDM cars dont work to well together..
your best bet is to get it shipped to Canada..
and then work with it that way..
no way it will get through customs in the US to much red tape.

[i_r_the_one]

i have a number for an exporter in Nashville Tennessee, he's done plenty of cars in FL,CA,TN but none in NY so i guess I'm like a guinea pig. there are a few skyline's here acturally a friend of mine has a r34 gtr specv 70k !! cash....but he's Shaggy's road manager so he has money. but i'll keep you guys posted and do the write up for the US.

[jdmvip]

Sounds good i_r_the_one, if you learn anything about the rules of importing JDM please do post it in the US section because in Canada we have no idea how it works.

I've heard mixed reports that there is a way to legally get some JDMs on the road and that it varies from state to state.

Keep us updated.

[dah_hunter]

basicly from that i understand.. if you can get the car into the states.. "Drive it accross with Canadian Plates" you can pretty much figure a way to register it in most of the states..

The cars are fine for what the "state" requires.. its the federal requirements that keep them out.

[jdmvip]

There is so much information I've heard either way about the US and imports.

The only thing I know for sure is that there are a lot of newer GC8 STi's on the road in the US so there is a way to do it but the details are not clear.

I've heard each state plays a big role in "compliance" and other rules.

It's too bad that we can't find anyone who actually got a JDM on the road there to find out exactly how it was done (assuming it was done legally too)

[djDEVILISHrd]

So a guy that I met on Soarer Central just had a very bad experience with Japan-Partner.com

I recommend that peeps avoid these guys for the time being.

The issue is that these guys aren't cleaning the vehicles to standards, especially for the CBSA officials at Calgary.

Here's the story, from what I have been told...

Three cars were bought from Japan-Partner. A Soarer, a skyline and a BMW. They were supposedly cleaned and then put into a container by Japan-Partner. When they arrived in Calgary, the CBSA flagged the container for enviro issues (this is happening to many car shipments to Calgary). The cars had dirt splashed up in the wheel wells, and on the sides of the cars. The BMW was leaking oil on top of the Soarer. The total bill from CBSA which includes cleaning, moving, storing, processing totaled over $3500.
The cars WERE NOT cleaned to CBSA standards. Now this whole bill would have been much cheaper if the container would have been destuffed and processed in Vancouver.

Once this guy received his cars, he found that the skyline had not been cleaned on the inside either, and there were cigarette buts everywhere, dirt everywhere. The BMW had a droopy headliner and the rear breaks were less then 30%.

Now this is a totally different experience then I had with this company. My car was clean and in very good condition but after the experience that this fellow had, I wouldn't recommend using this exporter until further notice.

Also a side note, don't have containers shipped to Calgary.

[jdmvip]

This is very disappointing to hear and I had my suspicions about them when you said your car just came from auction, yet they didn't provide the auction sheet at all.

What's worse is like you said, this company lied about the true condition of their in stock cars. From the pictures the BMW is in horrible shape. There is no way an Exporter can be forgiven for knowingly lying about the condition about cars they have in their stock, especially if they claim the condition is good!

I don't know if I'd blame them 100% for dirt/mud in the wheel wells, it's very possible that in the loading yard the car was driven on dirt or mud.

The Calgary issue is pretty concerning too, it's ironic that Calgary is being targeted and it happens to be a major hub for people to bring in their cars and they know this.

One comment I'd make is I always become suspicious of companies who specifically hired a Canadian or someone from a country they have their target market from unless it's specifically for language purposes.

I know of a few exporters I really don't like that have gotten business by association or being from a certain city or Province or country etc...

They're definitely not all bad but there are some I don't feel are fair to name that have a long history of pulling stunts like this, yet a select few friends of the companies keep recommending them.

All I will say is that I'm not taking about DJ and I'm not talking about anyone or company on this forum, because fortunately none of those fall into the category I'm talking about

[jdmvip]

Just one more thing, a lot of people have found our site by searching for "Japan-Partner Complaint"..........

[1toy2nv]

I'm the guy djDEVLISHrd is refering to in his last post. I have now given Japan Partner (Dean Cadre) the chance to make things right for me. Here is the letter I sent via email as I could not get him on the phone for several days:

[I]Hello Dean,



I am sending you this email to inform you of my disatisfaction with the vehicles and service you provided me. There are several members of the four Canadian web sites that I belong to following the progress of my purchase. To date, I have not iven your name to any of the members pending your handling of my complaints. I seek to be compensated for the losses I have suffered as a result of my dealings with Japan-Partner.



Upon the containers arrival in Calgary June 26th, I proceeded to the customs office to have my shipment cleared. I was informed by the Officer there that they require an examination of my shipment as my container was flagged. I was informed that I had to move the container from the railyard to a bonded warehouse for the inspection. I found a trucking company (Trucking Cost $ 425.00) and transfered it to the (Pheonix) Warehouse and the CBSA officers inspected it that Friday June 28th. I recieved a call that afternoon from the inspection officer telling me the cars were contaminated with soil. Obviously that could not be true as you garaunteed they were cleaned before they left Japan. I was absolutly adiment that they were cleaned properly and you said you spend at least an hour on every car going to Canada to make sure they would pass the soil exam. In disbelief I went to the warehouse and asked one of the workers to go back and take pictures of the cars. After looking at the pictures, I could see exactly what the inspector was talking about. There was mud in all three car's wheel wells, dirt on top of the Soarer that fell off the BMW along with oil dripping down the windshield. With the pictures that were taken I had no grounds to dispute the CBSA findings, The cars were ordered to be taken to the government wash facility to be decontaminated. The cost of the warehouse fees were $ 1746.00. This included storage, cleaning the container, washing the warehouse floors and disposal of the soil at the landfill. The towing of the cars to the wash facility was $ 630.00 as they had to be wrapped in plastic, sealed and delivered to the wash facility. Finally after the cars getting cleaned and released, I was presented with a bill for the cleaning of $ 1260.00. Luckily, the shop that was doing the mechanical/safety inspections was right across the street so I had no towing bill to pay for that.



After boosting the BMW, I moved the car to the shop. My partner followed in her car pointed out that it had no brake lights. After the initial inspection was completed, I was informed that it could not pass due to, no brake lights, worn out brakes int the front and rear and plugged catylitic converters. My mechanic measured the rotors front .683" and rear .243". The maximum wear thickness for this model of car is .803" front and .331" rear. Of course you have to change the brake pads as well (all 8). I then had the car towed to my house and proceeded to fix the brakes. Took about 3 hour to change the brakes and the stop light switch so the tail lights would work. Total cost of brake repair $ 310.00 (parts).

After letting the car run for a while to charge the battery, smoke started billowing out from beneath the car. I crawled underneath to find the catilytic converters are plugged and the buildup inside was smouldering. I have not priced out the replacement parts yet. Other items wrong with the car include large oil leaks fron the engine and trans, headliner upholstry is stained and falling down, rear deck cloth sunburnt and pealed away, stereo removed and laying on floor behind drivers seat. Total inspection costs $ 240.00 for the BMW twice.



The Soarer started without a boost and seemed to drive good except for the banging in the back when going over bumps. During the inspection, they found tahi oncontrol arm is cracked and the botton of the strut bolt on the left rear is sheared off. Replacement parts for this have not been priced yet. Again, failed the safety inspection. If this car was cleaned so well, why is there cigarette buts on the carpets and in the ashtrays? Inspections $140.00 to date plus one more after I repair it.



The Skyline started quickly and ran well over to my house. No point in inspecting it untill I do the compliance items first. Besides the car having mud and garbage on the floors the paint is totally faded and unrepairable. The windshield boxes were shoved in alongside the car, and consequently rub right through the paint (to metal). The warehouse guys at Pheonix documented the fact that only half of the shackles were even done up, so the car was moving around alot and caused the damage to the paint on the side of the car. The windshield boxes were soaked due to the cars being loaded into the container wet. Though the boxes fell apart, there was no damage to the glass itself.



To make a long story short, I am out over $ 4650 over and above the cost of the cars, shipping, duty and taxes and destuffing of the containers. Before I paid for these cars, you assured me that the cars I was buying would get a mechanical inspection and a thourough cleaning prior to being loaded in the container. Obviously, either yourself or your staff are neglegent and I deserve to be compensated for the costs associated with the misrepresentations made by Japan Partner. Please understand that I do not wish to damage your reputation by telling all what happened here, and to date have not given your name to noone. I need you to make this right for me. I have enclosed a few pics for your records, however, I can provide more if you request them. I can also show you the reciepts for the extra costs. Your prompt reply is aphreciated and should be done within 48hours to avoid any action I may be forced to take.



Regards,

Troy
__________________________________________________ _______________
And his response:

[B]Dear Troy,



Firstly I would like to say that we value all of our customers and go to great lengths to make them happy where other companies would not assist or do anything with regards to complaints.



I did speak to my boss about your complaint though.



1. If you are chosen to be inspected or not you would still have to bear the costs of transport to and from any inspection station as the regular course of importing.

2. With the matter of cleaning the vehicles we would only be able to offset this as a discount against future purchases.

3. Any parts you require to make repairs we can send to you by EMS soonest we have what you require and we will pay for them.

4. We can also give you a car on consignment to streamline your cash flow on a future order.

5. I have also attached our user agreement which state while we can inspect vehicles as they are used no repairs outside of what we agree before shipping can be done but at an extra cost.



This is the best we can do at this time. It is highly unlikely another exporter would be able to more in this case.



Best regards,



Dean Cadre

Sales & Marketing Manager

Japan Partner Inc.
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ _______

Well, there you have it guys. As suspected, they won't do anything but offer me a discount or pay for some parts (shipping not included). They seem to want to place the blame on our government for him shipping dirty cars. If the cars would have looked clean at the rail yard, I would not have had to send them to the bonded warehouse for further inspection. As soon as they were cleared by the cbsa (would have been that day) I could have taken them home. Could I post the pics of the cars after the wash to show how dirty they were? How about the pics of the quality of the cars and how they were recieved? Our government is not at fault here, the cars were too dirty and were not even able to pass oop.

[dah_hunter]

Hmm thats the normal answer you get when you ask for money back from most Japan Exproting compnays..

Do they not know how to wire money in japan..

Granted i buy a lot of cars so a discount off a future purchase is ok, however the the Exporter sucks why would i want to use him.. so i would want my money back..

anyways..

good luck.